Microsoft just had a big press event for Windows 10 where the company announced a bunch of new stuff, including a neat holographic augmented reality interface (!) and an 84-inch 4K screen with a computer built in. But here’s what’s really important to people running Windows computers (and phones) today: Windows is getting more frequent, free updates; it’s going to work better across computers, laptops, and tablets; and there might even be a reason to get a Windows Phone soon.

Windows 10 (they’re skipping 9) comes out later this year for most people, though some people have been testing preview builds for a while. The most important thing about Windows 10 is that it’ll be free. Windows 7, 8.1, and Windows Phone 8.1 users will be able to upgrade for free within the first year. Microsoft says, “[O]nce a Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will continue to keep it current for the supported lifetime of the device – at no additional charge.” This is a big change for Microsoft. Upgrading from previous generations of Windows usually costs $100 or more. By switching to free, fast updates, Microsoft is finally catching up to Apple, who gave away their last two major OS versions for free.

Microsoft is also catching up to Apple and Google in other ways. Windows 10 is designed to work well across PCs, tablets, and phones, with similar interfaces in the OS, cross-device notifications, apps that work the same on desktop and phones/tablets, and lots of file syncing with OneDrive.

The Start Menu is back with live tiles.

On desktops, laptops, and convertible tablets, they’re bringing back the Start Menu from Windows 7 and earlier, but with live tiles on the side, like the current Start screen.

The expanded view for the Start Menu.

It can also expand to a full-screen view like the Start screen on Windows 8.1, so it’s easier to use for people on tablets.

Windows 10 finally has a decent notification center, and it can keep track of notifications across platforms—if you dismiss one on your phone you won’t be bothered about it again on your computer. This only works, of course, if you have a Windows Phone, but maybe Windows 10’s universal apps—which have similar interfaces across PCs and phones, and can sync and share data seamlessly with OneDrive—can finally close the app gap and make Windows Phone a good alternative to iOS and Android.

The first universal apps will be from Microsoft, including most of the Office suite as well as default Windows apps like “Photos, Videos, Music, Maps, People & Messaging, and Mail & Calendar.” Microsoft already encourages developers to make universal apps for 8.1, but those are universal from the developer end: write once, publish separately on Windows and Windows Phone. The new universal apps will have the same code, same interfaces, and share data with themselves across phones, tablets, and PCs. Hopefully they’ll give developers the ability to make the new kind of universal apps on Windows 10; they’d be crazy not to.

Cortana, Microsoft’s voice assistant that competes with Siri and Google Now, is also coming to the desktop. So now when you yell at your computer it might tell you something useful.

There’s other stuff that’s kind of cool, too. Microsoft is replacing Internet Explorer with a new browser called Spartan (they’re really mining the Halo mythology here). Spartan includes Cortana integration (of course), plus note-taking that integrates with OneDrive as well as a readability mode. The Verge says it’s designed to work with touchscreens, something that Chrome still struggles with.

Spartan is the replacement for Internet Explorer. It has a more minimalist aesthetic and is optimized for note-taking via touchscreen.

Also noteworthy for gamers: Windows 10 will have a new Xbox app which will let you stream games from Xbox One to Windows devices. (The PlayStation 4 can do this with Xperia phones and the PS Vita.)

Another non-Windows thing Microsoft demoed is an oddball virtual reality headset called HoloLens, which displays augmented reality info directly in your field of view, instead of up and to the side like Google Glass. Like Google Glass, though, you’ll still probably look like a dweeb if you wear it outside the house. The Verge says that Minecraft could be the killer app for HoloLens. The video on Microsoft’s site is worth a watch, showing not just Minecraft but augmented-reality Skype tech support, very fancy weather widgets, and 3D modeling using 3D space.

While it’s good to be skeptical that HoloLens will be anywhere as cool as it looks in the video when (if?) it launches, it’s worth mentioning that Microsoft has a ton of money to pour into R&D. The company has plenty of experience with 3D room mapping, presence detection, and image recognition thanks to their experience with Kinect, a hugely powerful device that was mostly wasted on game consoles. (Side note: between this and Oculus Rift, the next couple years are going to be amazing for virtual and augmented reality.)

Coffee-table Minecraft is cool, but it’s the updates to Windows that will matter for most people, since most people still have at least one Windows device. Moving from big, expensive OS versions every three years to a fast, free, constantly updating Windows 10 is a big change that feels way overdue. And bringing back the Start menu can help people who found Windows 8 confusing. As Marcus Wohlsen said at WIRED, “As has happened for most of the 21st century, the new features Microsoft unveiled today—with the exception of its holograms—are all about catching up with the products that have set the pace.” Still, at least they’re moving forward, and even if Windows 10 doesn’t send people flocking to Windows phones, at least it’ll make things better for those of us using Windows PCs.

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